In a conventional telephone network, a caller must know the telephone number of the telephone associated with the called party. When the caller does not know the telephone number, the caller can contact directory assistance to get the number.
In a new Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (“VoIP”) telephone network, a caller's telecommunications terminal must know the Internet address of the telecommunications terminal associated with the called party. When the caller's telecommunications terminal does not know the address of the called party's telecommunications terminal, the caller's telecommunications terminal can contact a Session Initiation Protocol Proxy server to get the address based on the called party's name. Some Session Initiation Proxy servers will comprise the mapping of the called party's name to the address of the called party's telecommunications terminal, and some will not, which can frustrate or hinder the ability of the caller to communicate with the called party. For this reason, the need exists for an improvement in how Voice-over-Internet-Protocol telephone networks operate.